Karen Summer was born on July 22, 1962 in Los Angeles, California. An only child, Summer grew up in both Tarzana and Encino, California. Karen began her career in show business doing a lot of extra, photo double, and stand-in work for the mainstream movie industry; she worked as a stand-in and production assistant for the hit TV series The Dukes of Hazzard (1979) for three years. After meeting noted adult industry casting director Jim South at an El Torito restaurant on Ventura Boulevard, Summer started out in the adult entertainment industry as a nude model and made her hardcore film debut at age twenty in 1982.